NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS sometimes feel like trying to grab smoke.

We make big plans, set some goals, create a chart or two, but somehow it ends up slipping through our fingers. Things usually don't turn out to be quite what we imagined.

We all come to the new year with hopes, dreams, relational, financial, physical, even spiritual goals, and yet disappointment and failed expectations lurk around the corner like a thick fog.

It’s no surprise that God knows all about this. He knew all about our temptation to chase the smoke around us. He knew the disappointment we’d experience in the"worthless pursuit of the things of the earth”, and He wants to warn us, to guide us. This Christmas we reflected Jesus’ birth, and right along with that was Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son’s birth; John. John lived his life as a “warning” to “prepare the way” for Jesus, and this ancient book we’re going to look at these next few weeks, Ecclesiastes, was written 1,000 years before Jesus was born; and it’s a warning; it prepares us to receive Jesus by pointing out the absolute futility and emptiness of everything else.

Most of us hate the idea of wasting a day, or an afternoon, or a weekend, or God forbid; your life. Life moves too quick! It’s just a mist! A vapor! A breath! Smoke! Your life is passing by while you're reading this!

So whether you’ve been a Christian for a lifetime, or your brand new to church and faith and checking things out... If you're ready to stop wasting your time and get down to living “Life on Purpose”, this season is for you!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We pray your holidays have been filled with joy and hope. As we turn the corner and begin this new year together, we want to take the opportunity to put Jesus at the center of it all - once again.

There's an ancient tradition of celebrating whoever comes through the front door of your house first in the new year, so let's open the "door" of our hearts and lives and let Jesus in FIRST!

Join us this Sunday as we commit 2026 to God's will and direction through prayer, worship, and communion.

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

THE GANGS ALL HERE

Get ready for a very special Sunday as we gather together (kids included!) for a family service, celebrating the birth of Jesus and the hope He gives as we look ahead to the new year!

The extended Fox clan (including all FOUR of Justin's brothers and their families) are with us, leading worship, teaching, reading Scripture, and guiding us through prayer and reflection.

This was a morning for the record-books!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

MISSING JOSEPH in the Christmas story is a common occurrence! Maybe it's because after Zachariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Angels, Shepherds, and Wise Men, there's just too much action and drama to stop and consider the quiet, faithful father-figure in the background.

When you ponder the fourth Advent theme of "Love" though, a sacrificial, serving-others-kind-of-love, Joseph's actions and character speak louder than words. He models for us a trust in God and a willingness to surrender to love that inspires and convicts.

This Sunday, let's be encouraged, as Monica Hicks shares, to believe and receive the incredible love of God - and let's discover the freedom of surrendering to that love in our lives!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

MANY OF US feel like JOY is out of reach. We’re tired. Stressed. Disappointed. Overwhelmed. We've chased after the "Good Life" and found it comes up hollow. We assume joy comes after life gets better.

And this feeling is nothing knew - listen how the Psalmist writes it chapter 4;

“Many people say, “Who will show us better times?” Let your face smile on us, Lord. You have given me greater JOY than those who have abundant harvests…"

It seems God wants to teach us something important through this season of Advent: Joy comes not because “life is good”, but because God is here. Joy grows in the messy, ordinary, unfinished places - and that's exactly the kind of place God likes to show up!

This Sunday, we'll see how Zechariah, Elizebeth, Mary, Joseph - all received an impossible promise. Not a finished miracle; a seed. God begins His saving plan in hiddenness, in a womb, quietly growing.

Come be reminded with us (as the Taylors light our third Advent Candle) that real joy is nurtured and takes root in us not through pleasant circumstances but through the presence and promise of God!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

"DON'T BE AFRAID"

Every time an angel steps into the Christmas story, they always open with that line; "Don't be afraid..." And that's exactly how Zechariah hears it as he encounters his divine moment. It's an assurance of love and care - and it's coupled with the peace of God in the midst of uncertainty.

Most of us want peace, but in our noisy, chaotic world, we rarely stay quiet long enough to receive it. We’re living in the loudest generation in history. Constant noise, constant distraction, constant movement. And when life gets that loud, peace feels impossible. We numb ourselves, but we don’t calm ourselves.

Where do you need God to speak peace to you? Where is fear shouting the loudest? Where do you need to hear God’s voice inviting you, reminding you;

“Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10)

This Sunday, the Beam family lit our second Advent Candle and shared a powerful faith-story, and we practiced new ways to make room in our hearts for the Prince of Peace!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

THIS SEASON has so much promise and joy to it, but there’s also a variety of emotions we experience. One of those is this nagging feeling of emptiness - the question; “Is this really it? Is this truly what it’s all about?”

These four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Church's "Advent" season, begins right there; not in strength, but in ache.

We all have a place that feels like an empty room — a longing, a disappointment, a grief, a prayer still unanswered. And our instinct is to rush past it, numb it, or pretend it’s fine. But Advent invites us to pause. To acknowledge the darkness before the dawn. Because that’s the place where HOPE begins.

Before a Savior is announced, a disappointment is named.

Hope doesn’t begin when things get better; hope begins when we admit that we can’t make things better. This emptiness becomes the place where God moves. We discover God doesn’t avoid our empty places - He steps into them.

Allow His HOPE to step into your life this Sunday as we kick off the Christmas season with the Beards sharing and lighting our first Advent Candle!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

GRATITUDE changes our perspective.

As we look ahead to Christmas and the holidays, it's a great time to reflect on all that God has given us and to consider how He would want us to give in generous ways. God invites us to ultimately see our money and possessions through this lens of gratitude.

Since we know everything we have comes from God, we give back a portion to Him with thankfulness and joy. We give as an act of thanksgiving and worship to God. When we “take an offering” at Branches, it is part of how we worship, how we THANK God - and this helps our praise take on an even deeper meaning and passion.

Psalm 50:14 says, “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God…”

What are you thankful for? Would you be willing to tell someone about it? Well, this Sunday, we got to hear testimonies shared of God's faithfulness, and it was a joy to celebrate with you!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

"IT'S BETTER TO GIVE than to receive."

That's what they say, anyway!

Some of us are born-givers who love to see the joy in others as they receive our gifts - and some of us just really like getting gifts, right?!

It seems soon to say, but Christmas is right around the corner (some of us have already decorated!), and it's the season of giving and receiving - and it's a time when underneath it all lies the subject of money and possessions. Did you realize God knew all about the temptations we'll face with money? There's more verses about "money" in the Bible than "faith" and "prayer" combined (2,350 actually)!

In anticipation of the holidays, we'll be taking a couple weeks to explore this topic together. We'll discover what the Bible has to say about this important subject and how God has created a pathway for us to experience FREEDOM in this area! Get ready for a life-changing challenge!

Sunday 10:30 AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524

FOLLOW THE LEADER can sometimes be a fun game when you're a child, but it gets more complicated when we're adults, doesn't it? How do we know a leader is worth following? Are they going in the right direction? Do they have my best in mind?

The last part of Hebrews encourages us to take seriously our spiritual leaders and honor them as we all follow God together. In this day and age, as we experience one leadership failure after another, this can be a challenging ideal - it can be tempting to give up on it altogether.

But, Jesus Is Better than going our own way!

Have you been hurt by poor leaders in the past? What does it mean to support and encourage God's leaders in your community now? How might God grow you and us in new ways as we trust Him, together?

Join us this Sunday as we wrap up our series in Hebrews!

Sunday 10:30AM // 70 Stephens Ln. Bayside, CA 95524